Flush mount indicator housing

ABSTRACT

A single piece unitary housing for an electric light bulb having a flexible, biasing portion positioned on the front face of the housing. The biasing portion has elongated members, extending lonitudinally outward in opposite directions from the face of the housing, to firmly hold the housing against a support member.

United States Patent [1 1 Houbolt et al.

Oct. 2, 1973 FLUSH MOUNT INDICATOR HOUSING Inventors: Neal Houbolt;Dominic Bucciferro,

both of Joliet, Ill.

Assignee: Jemco Engineering Co., Minooka, Ill.

Filed: June 15, 1972 Appl. No.: 264,400

US. Cl. 340/38] R, 340/366 R Int. Cl. G08b 5/00 Field of Search 340/381R References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1967 Ryan 340/381 PrimaryExaminer-Harold l. Pitts Attorney-A. W. Molinare et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A single piece unitary housing for an electric light bulbhaving a flexible, biasing portion positioned on the front face of thehousing, The biasing portion has elongated members, extendinglonitudinally outward in opposite directions from the face of thehousing, to firmly hold the housing against a support member.

3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures FLUSH MOUNT INDICATOR HOUSING BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION The present invention relates to a switchborad or paneltype visual indicator and particularly to a flush mount indicatorassembly.

Light indicators for mounting on appliance panels, instrument panels,switchboards and the like are frequently positioned in close quartersand must occupy a minimum of space. Further, these indicators must beinstalled in these close quarters with a minimum of effort.

Typical prior art indicators are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,221,078(Dotterer) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,95l (Ryan). These indicators are notentirely suited for all applications. The Dotterer indicator light andassembly is not positioned closely against the instrument panel and, asa consequence, does not readily fit in, or is not readily installed inthe crowded quarters of a typical instrument panel. Further, the bracketwhich engages the light and the instrument panel is rigid and will notaccommodate slight misalignments between the light, indicator button andpanel opening. In addition, the Dotterer indicator assembly ismanufactured from a plurality of components and cannot be rapidly massproduced in an economical manner.

The Ryan indicator is a unitary assembly containing integral, flexibleside wings to hold the assembly firmly against an instrument panel.These side wings, however, have a propensity to break off when theindicator is being mounted on a panel since they can bend more than 90backwards during installation. Further, this reference requires a ribportion on the lower part of the assembly to act as a stabilizer whichincreases the cost of the assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide areadily manufactured, single piece, unitary housing for an electriclight bulb which can be positioned in close proximity to an instrumentpanel and occupy a minimum of space.

It is another object of this invention to provide a single piece,unitary housing for an electric light bulb having a flexible biasingmeans positioned on the face of the housing to aid in mounting thehousing on an instrument panel.

It is a specific object of this invention to provide a single piece,unitary housing for an electric light bulb having a flexible biasingmeans positioned on the face of the housing which eliminates the needfor stabilizing ribs on the housing.

In an embodiment, therefore, the present invention relates to a housingfor an electric light bulb comprising in integral combination, a bulbretaining portion and a lead retaining portion extending from said bulbretaining portion. The bulb retaining portion has a front face portionhaving a keyhole slot therein opening away from the lead retainingportions of the housing. An integral, flexible, biasing portionpositioned below the slot extends outward from the face portion of thebulb retaining portion and comprises a pair of spaced-apart, outwardlyextending fingers extending in the direction of the keyhole opening andspaced on either side of the keyhole and an outwardly extending tabportion extending in the direction of the lead retaining portion. Thishousing can be readily positioned in close proximity to an instrumentpanel and does not require stabilizing ribs on the face of the housingto hold the housing in a firm position. Further, the flexible, biasingportion is not subject to breakage.

In a more limited embodiment, the plane of the face of the lead portionis spaced behind the plane of the face of the bulb retaining portionthereby spacing the lead portion away from the instrument panel wheninstalled thereon.

Other objects embodiments, and a more detailed description of thepresent invention will be found in the discussions relating to thedrawings illustrating the single piece, unitary housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a front, elevational view ofthe light housing.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the housing.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the housing illustrating therelationship of the housing and an instrument panel when mountedthereon.

FIG. 4 is a top, plan view of the housing.

FIG. 5 is a top, plan view of the housing showing the housing mounted onthe instrument panel.

FIG. 6 is a top, section view of the housing when mounted on aninstrument panel taken along section line 6-6 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a top, plan view of the lens fastener which interconnects thehousing and the instrument panel.

FIG. 8 is a front, elevational view of the electric light bulb, resistorand leads which are contained within the housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the figures there isshown a flush mount indicator housing 1 which is of a single piece,unitary construction formed from a suitable, flexible, insulatingmaterial well known to those trained in the art such as nylon.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, light housing 1 comprises a bulb retainingportion 2 and a lead retaining portion 7 positioned below the retainingportion 2. Lead openings 11 are positioned on the bottom of leadretaining portions 7 to receive the electrical leads 20 that lead tolight 17 when positioned in the housing.

Bulb retaining section 2 has a front face 3, a back surface 4 and sidewalls 5. Keyhole slot 6, comprising a tapered top opening 6a and acircular bottom opening 6b, is positioned on the front face 3 of bulbretaining section 2. It is to be noted that circular opening 6b has adiameter greater than the width of the bottom of tapered opening 6a.This difference forms a shoulder between opening 6a and 6b which willengage lens fastener l2 and mount the housing on instrument panel 23 viaopening 24.

Referring to FIG. 7, lens fastener 12 comprises a shank portion 13, anoptical portion 14 and shoulder extensions 15 and 16. This lens fasteneris of a type well known to those trained in the art as illustrated inU.S. Pat. No. 3,329,951.

An integral, flexible, biasing portion 8 is positioned on the front face3 of bulb retaining section 2. Biasing portion 8 comprises a pair ofspaced apart, upper tabs 10 which are spaced on either side of keyholeslot 6 to allow passage of lens fastener 12 therethrough. Lower tab 9,also part of biasing portion 8, extends downward and outward in thedirection of lead retaining portion 7, and like tabs extendslongitudinally outward from the face of housing 1.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 8, light 17 is positioned in the interior ofhousing 1 to activate optical portion 14 of lens fastener 12 andcomprises leads l8, resistor 19 and insulated leads 20 which extends outof lead opening 11. Insulated leads 20 and leads 18 are firmlyinterconnected by clamps 21 on insulated leads 20. Pinch indentations 26(FIGS. 1 and 3) provide a firm interconnection between housing 1 andinsulated leads 20 and permanently affix light 17 within the housing.Interior wall 25 is positioned in the interior of lead retaining portion7 and separates leads 18 when light 17 is positioned within the housing.The interior of back wall 4 in a bulb retaining section 2 is fluted toform reflector surface 22 to reflect the light emitted by light 17outwards through keyhole slot 6 and activate lens member 12.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, light housing 1 is mounted on instrumentpanel 23 by first inserting lens member 12 in circular opening 24 inpanel 23. Shank extension is of the same diameter as opening 24. Whenlight 12 is inserted in opening 24, optical portion 14 of light 12 alsoserves to engage the perimeter of opening 24. Housing 1 is then affixedto lens connecting member 12 by placing biasing portion 8 against wall25 and pushing the biasing portion of the housing inwards. This causesupper tabs 10 and lower tab 9 to flex inward and allows keyhole slot 6to engage shank 13 and base extension 16 of lens member 12. Baseextension 16 is positioend on the interior of bulb retaining section 2and shank 13 passes down through the narrow opening in opening 6a and isengaged and retained within circular opening 6b of keyhole slot 6 bybase extension 16. Biasing portion 8 presses against instrument panel 23and provides a very firm interconnection between light housing 1 and thepanel. It is to be noted that upper tab 10 can be pushed only as farback as face 3 of bulb retaining section 2. Similarly, lower tab 9 canbe only pushed back to the front portion of lead retaining portion 7. Asa consequence, these respective portions of biasing portion 8 are notsubject to snapping or breaking off when housing 1 is attached to aninstrument panel by lens connecting member 12. Further, biasing portion8 provides such a firm interconnection between the housing and theinstrument panel so that no stabilizing ribs are needed on the front oflead retaining portion 7 to stabilize the light housing.

In a typical commercial embodiment, the housing 1 of the presentinvention has a maximum width of 0.510 inches versus a maximum width of0.830] .080 inches for the commercial embodiment of the Ryan housingillustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,951. Further, the housing of thepresent invention, when installed has a thickness much less than theRyan housing. Thus the housing of the present invention is more readilypositioned in tight quarters than prior art devices.

We claim as our invention:

1. A housing for an electric light bulb comprising in integralcombination:

a. a bulb retaining portion,

b. an integral lead retaining portion extending from said bulb retainingportion,

c. said bulb retaining portion having a front face portion, a pair ofside walls and a back portion,

d. said front face portion of the bulb retaining portion having akeyhole slot therein opening in a direction away from said leadretaining portion; and,

e. an integral, flexible, biasing portion extending outward from saidface portion positioned opposite from the opening of the keyhole slot,

f. said biasing portion having a pair of spaced-apart,

outwardly extending fingers extending in the direction of the keyholeopening and spaced on either side of the keyhole and an outwardlyextending tab portion extending in the direction of the lead portion.

2. A housing according to claim 1 wherein an electric light bulb ispositioned in said bulb retaining portion adjacent to the key hole slot.

3. A housing according to claim 1 wherein the plane of the face of thelead portion is spaced behind the plane of the face of the bulbretaining portion.

1. A housing for an electric light bulb comprising in integralcombination: a. a bulb retaining portion, b. an integral lead retainingportion extending from said bulb retaining portion, c. said bulbretaining portion having a front face portion, a pair of side walls anda back portion, d. said front face portion of the bulb retaining portionhaving a keyhole slot therein opening in a direction away from said leadretaining portion; and, e. an integral, flexible, biasing portionextending outward from said face portion positioned opposite from theopening of the keyhole slot, f. said biasing portion having a pair ofspaced-apart, outwardly extending fingers extending in the direction ofthe keyhole opening and spaced on either side of the keyhole and anoutwardly extending tab portion extending in the direction of the leadportion.
 2. A housing according to claim 1 wherein an electric lightbulb is positioned in said bulb retaining portion adjacent to the keyhole slot.
 3. A housing according to claim 1 wherein the plane of theface of the lead portion is spaced behind the plane of the face of thebulb retaining portion.